Tag: lineage

We begin segment 5 with the year of 1756, when James Lankford was selected to serve as constable of the Stokes County area, then known as Rowan County. James purchased land along the banks of Fagg Creek in 1765. His will was signed on October 17, 1772 and is recorded in Stokes County. His personal items were left to his wife, Sarah and his land was to be divided between two of his children. A son, James Lankford, Jr and a daughter, Susannah Lankford Dicke. Another son, William Lankford was granted lifetime rights to live on the land. The Lankford family was involved with the American Revolutionary War and the Battle of Kings Mountain. “Stokes County militia members were part of the group of patriots in pursuit of Patrick Ferguson in his fatal flight toward Kings Mountain, SC. John Martin and Thomas Lankford of Captain Joseph Cloud, Jr’s Company, part of Cleveland’s Regiment, were overtaken by a Tory ambush near the Broad River while they had been conducting a spy mission. Martin was wounded in the head, but Lankford was unharmed. Martin recovered from his wounds and John Deathridge succeeded in removing the bullet particles from his wound.” Quoted from Kings Mountain and It’s Heroes, published in 1881 by Lyman C. Draper. William Lankford married Nancy Dickerson and remained in Stokes County.

James Martin was born May 21, 1742 in New Jersey and died October 31, 1834 in Snow Creek, Stokes County. He was first married to Ruth Rogers in 1763 and later married Martha Loftin Jones in 1800. Children from the first union are, Sarah(1764-1840) married Pleasant Henderson, Mary(1766-1768), Jean(1768-1790), Hugh(1770-1861) married Elizabeth, Ann married Thomas Searcy, Mary(1774-1851) married Thomas Rogers, Thomas(1777-1778), Alexander, Samuel, Fanny married Robert Hunter, James married Sarah Alexander. Children from the 2nd marriage; Henry(1802-1846) married Polly Manuel, Edmund(1804-1861) married Harty Davis Williams, Elizabeth married Daniel Jordan, Martha married Alfred Scales and John married Mary Williams.

The year of 1783, Job Martin appeared in the Stokes County area. A son of Job, Valentine Martin purchased land that sat on both sides of the Little Yadkin River. Valentine married Elizabeth Dalton and they had at least one daughter, Charlotte Martin. Valentine then married Nancy and both are named in the Eaton’s Church Book dated 1805 as active members. Valentine and Nancy had the following children: Rachel, Valentine, Henry, Samuel, Mary and Carter. Valentine migrated to TN circa 1810.

John Mucke traveled down the Great Wagon Road with the Moravians from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Click here to read more about the Great Wagon Road. He was born circa 1745 and by 1766, he was operating the still house in Bethania. To learn more about colonial distillery, click here. He married Magdalena Hirtel on July 1, 1774. Three children were born, John Lewis, Mary Elizabeth and Beningna. By 1779, the family was living in Bethabara where John was operating a new still house. The family moved to Germanton in 1792 and were no longer active with the Moravian faith. John purchased several land tracts in and around the Germanton area. After the death of his first wife, John married Juliana Phillips. John died in 1807 while his wife Juliana was with child. Juliana married a Spaugh and the unborn child was given the Spaugh last name.

18th century still located at Mount Vernon

Charles McAnally, at age 23, migrated with the Moravians to Carolina and settled a few miles from Bethabara. Charles was working as a wheelwright and in 1754, took in an apprentice by the name of John Paunton who was 21 at the time. This was quite an achievement for a man of this age. During the French and Indian War, George Washington was asked by the Virginia government to organize a defense in western Virginia against the Indian raids that were occurring. Charles McAnally was a member of the Virginia Colonial Militia located in Augusta County in 1758. In 1763, Charles followed the famous trail once again from Virginia to North Carolina. The Indian Treaty was signed in this year stating the Proclamation Line. This prevented settlers from settling west of the Yadkin River. In 1776, the Moravians posted the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War began. Captain Charles McAnally was in Bethania at the time of the posting according to the Moravian diaries. It states that Captain Charles McAnally was a captain in the North Carolina Militia. His sons, John and Jesse and his son-in-law, Joseph Banner were all members of the militia. In 1788, Charles was an elected member of the Convention of North Carolina from Surry County. Other members were Joseph Winston, James Gains, Absolam Bostick and Matthew Brooks. This convention was called in order to designate a state capital. Stokes County was formed a year later in 1789 and the first commissioners were Gray Bynum, Charles McAnally, Anthony Billings, James Makely and John Halbrut. Charles McAnally was born in 1731 in Pennsylvania and died in 1810 in Stokes County. He is buried in a family cemetery near the Dan River. Charles married Ruth Mae Houston(1736-1806) and had the following children; John married Anna Stone, Sarah married Joseph Banner, Jesse married Elizabeth Morgan, Mary married Constantine Ladd, Lois married John Evans, Ruth married Torrence Burns and Hannah married Joshua Homer.

It is very obvious that many of these first settlers were well educated. Many wills contain references to books as part of the inventory. I’m sure to many, if a man owned a Bible, he had within his possessions, a library. The tools of many of the wills, describe skilled tradesmen. The lantern above gives reflection to what the frontier in the Stokes County area was like during this time. The darkness overwhelmed the little cabins that dotted the landscape but in anticipation of the sunrise, a new day would begin and the work would continue. Wildlife was abundant all throughout Stokes County, this included bear, wolves and panthers. The cabins were constructed to keep out all of the wilderness during the blackness of night. You can imagine the night, thick with a canopy of tall trees and in the distance a small flicker of light shows itself from a cabin.

This concludes segment 5 of this series. The final chapter will be segment 6 as we continue along the Stokes County trail of the 18th century. Visit the NC Genealogy Links page for more information about all North Carolina counties and other research tools. Piedmont Trails is now on Pinterest, click here and see the latest pins and boards. As always, your support of Piedmont Trails is greatly appreciated. Wishing you all great success with your family research and Enjoy your journey.

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